Wichita State University - SOC Intro to S

CHAPTER 8: Global Inequality

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1)Many economic measures focus on the average income of citizens in a given country. Which answer best describes why this measure might be problematic?

1. 1. It can hide income inequality within a given country.
   2. It attempts to make broad statements based on narrow collections of data.
   3. It does not take into account religion and its effects on income.
   4. It ignores whether certain populations are naturally thriftier than others, thus requiring different metrics for making meaningful comparisons.

2. The World Bank classifies nations as low income, lower middle income, upper middle income, or high income based on their per person gross national income, or GNI—a number that reflects the average income in those nations. Why might sociologists find this form of classification problematic?
   1. Making cross-national comparisons of income ignores the role of culture in making some groups used to poverty.
   2. Because the number is an average of incomes in a country, it can mask inequality within a

specific nation.

1. 3. Global economic comparisons need to take into account the mode of production in every given nation.
   4. Too many people lie about their incomes to make the number useful.

3. According to the textbook, generally, high-income countries are those countries that:
   1. skipped the feudal stage of development
   2. were colonized by other nations
   3. are largely based on socialist economic policies
   4. were the first to industrialize

4. According to the textbook, high-income countries comprise about 18 percent of the world’s population; however, they lay claim to over  of the world’s annual output.
   1. 5 percent                                                 c.   45 percent
   2. 25 percent                                               d.   65 percent

5. Mary studies countries that were among the first to industrialize. It is likely that she is studying countries.
   1. high-income                                            c.   low-income
   2. middle-income                                        d. socialist

6. Liu lives in a country that largely provides adequate housing, food, and drinkable water. It is likely that

he lives in a                   country.

7. Jennifer lives in a country that, despite its relatively small population, consumes an alarming percentage of the world’s resources. She likely lives in a  country.
   1. high-income                                            c.   low-income
   2. middle-income                                        d. socialist

8. The middle-income countries are primarily located in:
   1. North America                                        c.   east and southeast Asia
   2. continental Europe                                 d. sub-Saharan Africa

9. The ranks of the middle-income countries expanded significantly between 1999 and 2000. Why?
   1. The global grain supply increased dramatically.
   2. China was reclassified from low to middle income because of its economic growth.
   3. There was a general shift of buying power from the global North to the global South.
   4. The United States was reclassified to middle income due to the decline of its middle class and living standards more generally.

10. Manuel is doing a political economic analysis of the countries that formerly made up the Soviet Union. He is studying        countries.
    1. high-income                                            c.   low-income

1. 2. middle-income                                        d. Asian

11. Sonyuchka studies countries that are located primarily in east and southeast Asia, the oil-rich countries of the Middle East and north Africa, the Americas (Mexico, Central America, Cuba and other countries in the Caribbean and South America), and the once-communist republics that formerly made up the Soviet Union and its eastern European allies. She is likely studying countries.
    1. high-income                                            c.   low-income
    2. middle-income                                        d. Asian

12. Juanita studies the countries where the vast majority of the world’s population lives. She is studying

                   countries.

1. 1. high-income                                            c.   low-income
   2. middle-income                                        d. European

13. According to the textbook, how is housing changing in low-income countries?
    1. People are leaving cities to dwell on farmland.
    2. Masses of people are beginning to own homes solely for themselves.
    3. Hundreds of millions of people are moving into huge, densely populated cities.
    4. Large segments of these populations now have air-conditioned homes.

14. According to the textbook, low-income countries tend to have           economies.
    1. highly egalitarian                                    c.   developed but highly unequal
    2. industrialized                                          d. agricultural

15. Ranjeet studies much of eastern, western, and sub-Saharan Africa; Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and a few other east Asian countries; India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan in South Asia; east and central European countries, such as Georgia and Ukraine; and Haiti and Nicaragua in the western hemisphere. She is studying                countries.
    1. high-income                                            c.   low-income
    2. middle-income                                        d. socialist

16. James lives in a country that has a mostly agricultural economy and has only recently begun to industrialize. He lives in a              country.
    1. high-income                                            c.   low-income
    2. middle-income                                        d. socialist

17. Selma studies countries where fertility rates are much higher than the rest of the world. She is likely studying           countries.
    1. high-income                                            c.   low-income
    2. middle-income                                        d. socialist

18. The global standard of living has done what during the past thirty years, according to the textbook?
    1. rapidly increased                                    c.   rapidly decreased
    2. slowly increased                                     d.   slowly decreased

19. Nate notes that it can be deceptive to talk about how the global standard of living has steadily risen over the past thirty years. Why might he hold that position?
    1. The global standard of living has actually fallen over the past thirty years.
    2. The global standard of living obscures the widening wealth gap between rich and poor countries and fails to account for the fact that some poorer countries have actually seen a

decrease in standard of living over the past couple of decades.

1. 3. The global standard of living has stagnated over the past thirty years.
   4. Sociologists cannot measure things such as standards of living in a meaningful way that has descriptive power.

20. If Sandra notes that the average income in the world has gone up over the past few decades to show the progress humanity has made, what evidence might a sociologist give to contradict her?
    1. The average income has actually declined.
    2. The average income has fluctuated consistently over the years.
    3. The average income has stagnated for the past three decades.

1. 4. Despite a rise in average global income, there is still huge inequality between people in high-income nations and the rest of the world.

21. Bidya wonders whether the best way to improve the lives of the world’s poor people in low-income countries is to write a book about her studies of them and distribute it in low-income countries. According to the text, why might she be worried about that?
    1. Rates of literacy among the world’s poor are much lower than among wealthier people.
    2. Studies of poor populations are almost always colonizing and paternalistic.
    3. Books are not helpful ways of spreading important analysis.
    4. Only people in high-income countries can solve poverty.

22. More than 40 percent of all urban residents in developing countries live in:
    1. occupied factories                                  c.   government housing
    2. slums                                                       d. urban farms

23. Stefano suggests that it is problematic to analyze poverty in developing countries from the perspective of dominant racial, ethnic, and religious groups while ignoring subordinate racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Why might he hold this position?
    1. Sociological studies are almost never done from the perspective of dominant groups.
    2. Focusing on subordinate groups yields more accurate results in sociological studies.
    3. Poverty is often at least a partial result of belonging to subordinate racial, ethnic, and

religious groups in these countries.

1. 4. All groups are subordinate in low-income countries.

24. According to the textbook, all of the following are true about people living in low-income countries EXCEPT:
    1. People living in low-income countries tend to have better health facilities compared to people living in high-income countries.
    2. People living in low-income countries often lack proper sanitation.
    3. People living in low-income countries often must drink polluted water.
    4. People living in low-income countries are more likely to suffer from starvation than people in high-income countries are.

25. Magda’s family is poor and lives in a low-income nation. One day, she becomes very ill. Magda’s family would likely prefer her to be seen by medical personnel in France rather than her home country for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
    1. Low-income countries generally suffer from inadequate health facilities.
    2. Hospitals and clinics rarely serve the poorest people in low-income countries.
    3. People in low-income countries often lack proper sanitation.
    4. There are no doctors in low-income countries.

26. In 2011, more than 100 million children under age five were underweight. The majority of those children live in:
    1. sub-Saharan Africa                                  c.   North America
    2. South America                                         d. southern Asia

27. According to the textbook, all of the following are contributing factors to food shortages and hunger throughout the globe EXCEPT:
    1. the unsustainable, largely vegetarian diets of most of the world
    2. internal warfare
    3. the AIDS epidemic
    4. drought

28. Sanjay studies global hunger, particularly in Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Why might she focus specifically on these countries?
    1. Hunger does not affect other countries significantly.
    2. Two-thirds of people who go hungry every day live in these countries.
    3. These countries have the same cultural practices around food.
    4. Foreign aid to these countries has all but stopped.

29. Pepe believes that we need to consider more than just natural forces, such as natural disasters, when we talk about global inequality. Which answer best explains why he might have that belief?
    1. Social forces also play a factor in why large groupings of people go without food.
    2. Considering only natural forces does not take into account the power of positive and negative thinking in terms of people’s structures of opportunity.
    3. Pepe must be a Marxist, because only Marxists try to catalog factors for inequality that are

not naturally occurring.

1. 4. Pepe understands that natural forces do not affect global hunger.

30. Chantelle notes that the HIV/AIDS epidemic contributes to food shortages in some countries. Why might this be the case?
    1. HIV-infected food passes on the virus.
    2. Money that could be spent on food is spent on medications.
    3. The virus kills many working-age adults who might otherwise contribute to food production.
    4. The epidemic pushes scientists out of those countries into nations where they can conduct

food research without worrying about it.

31. Christopher concludes a journal article he has written with this sentence: “This irony points out that hunger is probably not a problem of production; it is a problem of distribution.” What irony is Christopher likely referring to?
    1. There really is not enough food to go around.
    2. Food production has been steadily increasing, often in countries experiencing widespread hunger.
    3. The gendered nature of hunger disproportionately affects men.
    4. Although often seen as a privileged group, poor whites constitute the largest segment of hungry people in the world.

32. Sociologists cite all of the following as reasons for the recent economic advances of the east Asian emerging economies EXCEPT:
    1. Most were part of colonial situations that, although imposing many hardships, also helped pave the way for economic growth.

1. 2. Economic growth in this region took off at the high point of the Cold War, when the United States and its allies, in erecting a defense against communist China, provided generous economic aid that fueled investment in such new technologies as transistors, semiconductors, and other electronics, which contributed to the development of local industries.
   3. Dictatorial controls allowed for smoothly run, centrally planned economies that eschewed democratic planning as well as market mechanisms.
   4. Many of the east Asian governments followed strong policies that favored economic

growth: keeping labor costs low, encouraging economic development through tax breaks and other economic policies, and offering free public education.

33. The textbook cites all of the following as problems associated with rapid economic growth in east Asia EXCEPT:
    1. the violent repression of labor and civil rights
    2. a highly exploited, increasingly female workforce
    3. the rise of methamphetamine addiction
    4. widespread environmental degradation

34. Jian Mei explains in her work that philosophy led to economic development in many of east Asia’s newly industrializing economies. She is likely referring to:
    1. the role of Confucianism in encouraging obedience, loyalty, and thrift
    2. the ways that Zen stresses letting go of emotion
    3. how Christianity spread to east Asia through European missionaries
    4. the enforced atheism of communist China and its stress on the importance of money

35. According to the textbook, market-oriented theories of global inequality assume that the best possible economic consequences will result if:
    1. competent politicians carefully regulate markets
    2. individuals are free—uninhibited by any form of governmental constraint—to make their

own economic decisions

1. 3. cooperative enterprises replace privately owned businesses to create egalitarian markets
   4. the public is provided with free access to public education

36. Salvatore studies the debate around universal health care in the United States. He prefers economic theories that suggest that the best possible outcomes in health care happen when the government does not interfere in economic decisions. Lorenzo prefers what theory or set of theories?
    1. dependency theories                              c.   world-systems theory
    2. state-centered theories                          d. market-oriented theories

37. Keynesian economists begin with the assumption that the state should regulate economic policy for everyone’s benefit. Why might sociologists who use market-oriented theories be critical of this idea?
    1. They believe that markets without state interference lead to the best economic outcomes.
    2. Market-oriented theorists think that the state should control all markets.
    3. They think that higher taxation rates for the poor are the best way to curb welfare provisions.
    4. They believe that markets should be abolished in favor of a planned economy.

38. Modernization theory argues that:
    1. state-run economies are most efficient for creating modernized countries
    2. low-income countries must preserve their traditional cultures to develop
    3. high-income countries have a responsibility to give free resources to low-income countries
    4. low-income societies can develop economically only if they give up their traditional ways and adopt modern economic institutions, technologies, and cultural values that emphasize savings and productive investment

39. Alyssa is a fierce advocate for indigenous rights and ways of life. Why might she be critical of the modernization theory of development?
    1. Modernization theory typically suggests that traditional societies must abandon their traditional ways and embrace modern economic institutions.
    2. Modernization theory suggests that the state should run the economy, which leaves no

place for indigenous involvement.

1. 3. Modernization theory treats indigenous people like noble savages who have all the correct answers to life’s problems.
   4. Modernization theory focuses too much on the role of women in economic development,

and indigenous communities already have prescribed roles for women.

40. Modernization theorist W. W. Rostow viewed economic growth as going through several stages, which he likened to the journey of an airplane. All of the following are stages in his theory EXCEPT:
    1. traditional stage                                     c.   drive to technological maturity
    2. takeoff to economic growth                   d. investment in the arts

41. Ida studies the economic landscape of Bolivia. Her research has led her to believe that Bolivia will never develop until it abandons its traditional culture and instead focuses on productive investment. What theory or set of theories best describes her view?
    1. dependency theories                              c.   world-systems theory
    2. state-centered theories                          d.   modernization theory

42. Neoliberalism asserts that:
    1. free-market forces, achieved by minimizing governmental restrictions on business, provide the only route to economic growth
    2. economic development can occur only if accompanied by liberal social values, such as

securing a woman’s right to abortion and supporting same-sex marriage

1. 3. state involvement in the economy should be relatively high, even at times running entire industries
   4. social democratic programs, such as generous welfare policies and free education provided

by the state, are the bedrock of economic growth

43. Lloyd has been studying Uganda for decades. Based on his research, he believes that barriers to trade, minimum wage laws, and environmental regulations that affect Ugandan businesses are getting in the way of development and should be minimized or eliminated. His view is best described as:
    1. Marxism                                                  c. neoliberalism
    2. social democracy                                    d. anarchism

44. Why might dependency theorists criticize modernization theory?
    1. They would point out that the only way for traditional societies to develop is to shed their traditional ways.
    2. They would argue that modernization theory ignores the fact that markets, if freed from state intervention, will develop any society.
    3. They would point out that traditional societies are typically low income because of a

history of colonialism and oppression.

1. 4. They would suggest that in recent history, historically exploited nations have actually become the new exploiters through global welfare schemes.

45. Dependency theories can be described as:
    1. structural theories that show how people on welfare and other forms of social assistance become dependent on it and are thus unable to develop economically
    2. Marxist theories of economic development arguing that the poverty of low-income

countries stems directly from their exploitation by wealthy countries and the multinational corporations that are based in wealthy countries

1. 3. cultural theories that suggest that some cultures are simply not fit for economic development
   4. explanations for how families with many dependents force countries into economic

downturns

46. The doctrine of neoliberalism asserts that underdeveloped countries can develop by freeing up markets and allowing foreign corporations to operate within their borders. Why might dependency theorists critique this idea?
    1. Dependency theorists would argue that the only way for underdeveloped nations to

develop is to borrow from foreign banks and not rely on corporations.

1. 2. Dependency theorists would argue that foreign states provide a much more stable source for income for underdeveloped nations.
   3. Dependency theorists would respond that low-income nations need revolutionary changes

that would push out, rather than welcome, foreign corporations.

1. 4. Dependency theorists would argue that the legacy of colonialism has already led to positive forms of development in low-income countries.

47. Alejandra believes that poverty in Colombia is largely due to exploitation by the United States and multinational corporations originating in the United States. Her view is best described as corresponding to what theory or set of theories?
    1. dependency theories                              c.   neoliberalism
    2. state-centered theories                          d. modernization theory

48. The process whereby Western nations established their rule in parts of the world away from their home territories is called:
    1. socialism                                                 c.   colonialism
    2. Manifest Destiny                                     d. Southern hegemony

49. Yessenia studies mid-20th-century India. In her studies, she notes how Great Britain established direct rule over India for profit. She is taking note of what process?
    1. colonialism                                              c.   assembly making
    2. participatory planning                            d. communization

50. Morgan takes the common view that economics must be viewed as independent nations engaged in diplomatic and economic relations with one another. Why would world-systems theorists critique this idea?
    1. World-systems theorists would argue that we must not view the world as independent nations but rather as continents of nations that compete for continental dominance of the market in the world system.
    2. World-systems theorists would suggest that Morgan’s view runs the risk of delegitimizing

the neoliberal project of creating world market systems that could develop the entire globe.

1. 3. World-systems theorists would assert that the world capitalist system is not merely a collection of independent nations but must be understood as a single-world system.
   4. World-systems theorists would argue that the world system should actually be analyzed by

looking at global finance as a competition between independent cities, with London and New York City as the world’s centers of international finance.

51.                 argues that the world capitalist economic system is not merely a collection of independent countries engaged in diplomatic and economic relations with one another but rather must be understood as a single unit.
    1. Neoliberalism                                         c.   Structuration theory
    2. Postmodernism                                       d. World-systems theory

52. After studying the political economy of modern Germany, Fran concludes that we must consider the world capitalist economy as a single unit instead of looking at individual countries. Her view is best described by what theory or set of theories?
    1. dependency theories                              c.   world-systems theory
    2. state-centered theories                          d.   modernization theory

53. The United States would be considered one of the         countries in world-systems theory.
    1. peripheral                                               c.   semiperipheral
    2. subordinate                                             d. core

54. Mustafa is a world-systems theorist who studies the world’s most powerful countries and outlines how those nations take the largest shares of the world’s wealth. He is studying what kind of countries?
    1. core                                                         c.   semiperipheral
    2. peripheral                                               d. futuristic

55. Carolina is using world-systems theory to research countries that have resources that tend to flow to the most wealthy nations, which then sell them back to those countries for a profit. She is studying what kind of countries?
    1. core                                                         c.   semiperipheral
    2. peripheral                                               d. futuristic

56. Francesco uses world-systems theory to study countries that extract profits from the world’s poorest countries and yield profits for the world’s wealthiest countries. He is studying what kind of nations?
    1. core                                                         c.   semiperipheral
    2. peripheral                                               d. futuristic

57. Hektor is looking at how air conditioners are manufactured. He notes that parts for them are produced in China, Argentina, and Uruguay, and their assembly takes place at different points throughout the world. Hektor is studying:
    1. McDonaldization                                     c.   industrialization
    2. national franchising                                d. global commodity chains

58. State-centered theories of global inequality and economic development argue:
    1. that state involvement in the economy interferes with prosperity
    2. that appropriate government policies do not interfere with economic development but rather can play a key role in bringing it about
    3. that the state is constructed in such a way that it must impede development
    4. that any economic theory should be focused solely on state actors and political action

59. Why would state-centered theorists be critical of market-oriented theorists?
    1. State-centered theorists see state intervention as the major cause of underdevelopment and global inequality.
    2. State-centered theorists view the market as the natural and best method for economic

development.

1. 3. State-centered theorists think that historical evidence shows that men tend to be better suited to be economic players than women tend to.
   4. State-centered theorists think that state intervention into the economy can play a key role in

development.

60. Afiya has been doing research on austerity policies in western Europe. She concludes that appropriate state policies have played a key role in economic development there. What theory or sets of theories describes her position best?
    1. dependency theories                              c.   world-systems theory
    2. state-centered theories                          d.   modernization theory

ESSAY

1. How does the World Bank measure global inequality, and what are some of the problems with measuring global inequality in this way?

2. Famine and hunger are caused by both natural and social forces. What are some of the social forces that cause hunger, malnutrition, and starvation?

3. Many countries are considered emerging economies, including a handful in eastern Asia whose growth is considered extraordinary compared to other emerging economies. What are some of the problems that have accompanied emerging economies in this part of the world?

4. Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the four competing sociological theories that explain global inequality.

5. How do market-oriented theories explain global inequality?

6. How do dependency theorists explain global inequality?

7. How does world-systems theory explain global inequality?

8. How do state-centered theories explain global inequality?